This site is an online journal hosting stories/articles/comments related to interesting and unusual scientific and historical findings from in and around the Columbia River Gorge. Some of my favorite subjects deal with cryptic biological and physical features, or in other words features of our landscape that are relatively unknown, hidden, or forgotten. Examples might include the Gorge’s low-elevation American pika population and their relation to likely low-level permafrost, roving bands of cannibalistic Mormon crickets in the Simcoe Mountains, the freshwater mussel population of Rattlesnake Creek, horned toads of Haystack Butte, and tracing old Indian and pioneer trails through the Gorge.
A place for Natural History, Biogeography, Geology and Ecology of the Columbia River Gorge
But why is recording the knowledge of little known, unusual, and maybe out-of-place features of any importance? Two reasons immediately come to mind. First, it is simply interesting and adds greatly to our lives in the Gorge. Second, if our knowledge of rare physical and biological features is lacking, that simple condition can put those things at risk of being lost forever. Nobody would find it hard to argue that human population growth in the region is high and that as we expand, the things that surround us are modified and in some cases eliminated. If we are going to successfully ascertain their importance and effectively manage these features, we must first learn where and why they exist.
Sharing your observations can be as simple as posting a comment to this or other articles below. Second, you can contact me with your story, which I might then be able to copy/post to this site as a separate article with your name.
About Steve Stampfli
Steve Stampfli was born and raised in Denver and the mountains of Colorado. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in biology from Colorado College in 1975, and a masters’ degree in environmental management from Duke University in 1979. From there, he pursued interests in landscape restoration working as director of the Exploration and Mining Program for the state of South Dakota, and then as environmental coordinator for Wharf Resources Inc. Annie Creek Gold Mine in the Black Hills. He moved to the Gorge in 1988, where he worked as manager of the Underwood Conservation District for fourteen years, and then five years as coordinator of the Hood River Watershed Group. Since retirement he has continued working on various projects that relate to one of his main life interests, that being the reclamation and restoration of disturbed landscapes.
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